Lara: T20 World Cup would be well fought

by S M March 16, 2009

Former West Indies captain Brian Lara said: "It was a great feeling to pick up the trophy before the winning captain and nice to be part of the build-up but, as for picking a winner, it's very hard to predict as in twenty20 cricket you never know what will happen.

"In 2007 I supported the West Indies (to win) due to the fact that, as a team, we may have been short in Test cricket but very good over a shorter game and twenty20 was a version of the game, with players like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, I thought we would love.

"But then Bangladesh came and beat us and we didn't win a match so that shows how difficult it is to predict. A team like India or Pakistan, accustomed to good batting tracks, flat tracks and capable of being very innovative could be the ones to walk away with the trophy," said Lara.

"I'm still a connoisseur of Test cricket as the true test of any sportsman," he said. "But I think twenty20 cricket is a great invention, especially for the spectator. It's a great addition to the game and I look forward to seeing the ICC World Twenty20."

"It was a great feeling and this from a captain not accustomed to winning anything," he said.

"We'd just lost four Tests against England and then came back from deep trouble in the final when we were seven or eight wickets down late on.

"Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw were able to pull it off for us and that was an excellent feeling.

"I've never done it (lifted the trophy) in a World Cup but to play against all the other international countries in one tournament and win was a great feeling and definitely one of the greatest moments of my career," he added.